Can you solve it? The impossible braid puzzle that will plait your brain

Some things are easier to show than explain: watch Alex set up this week’s puzzle in the clip above.

Hello guzzlers.

Today’s puzzle is one for your hands, not just your head.

You’ll need a pair of scissors and a piece of paper. Or even better, a plastic bag (a strip of leather also works pretty well).

Cut a thin strip of your preferred material with two slits like this:

Cut this strip. Plastic bag material works better for beginners since paper is more likely to tear as you work out how to solve it.

The challenge is to braid the three ‘strands’ like this:

The solution - in paper.

The solution - in plastic bag plastic. Try it like this first!

The braiding/plaiting is exactly how you would braid/plait hair - if hair was connected at the bottom as well as the top. Note how each of the strands stays flat as it twists from one side to the other. If you want another tip - watch the video at the top of the post. Some things are easier to show in a clip.

I’ll be back later with the solution – and an extra braiding puzzle that will explain the universe.

Good luck!

Thanks to the mathematician John Horton Conway for suggesting this puzzle. Conway, who is well known for exploring the theory behind puzzles and games, is the subject of one of the best books I have read this year: Genius at Play, by Siobhan Roberts.

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I post a puzzle here on a Monday every two weeks.

If you like colouring for relaxation you might enjoy my latest book, Snowflake Seashell Star: Colouring Adventures in Numberland, which is out now.

I write about maths on my other Guardian blog, Adventures in Numberland. You can also check me out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and my personal website.

And if know of any great puzzles that you would like me to set here, get in touch.